June 2007 Newsletter

June 13: Estate Planning; Attorney Rock Allen will speak at 12:30. Please note there will be NO evening FPW program in June!! Please plan to attend the 12:30 session in Family Life room 318. Learn about writing a will, choosing a guardian, picking an executor, and more.

A copy of the Nolo Press book Estate Planning and The busy family's guide to estate planning (book and CD) will be given away to two attendees.

Great resources to help with your estate planning and prepare you to ask questions of Mr. Allen:

Financial Planning for Women (FPW) is a monthly educational seminar that meets the second Wednesday of each month at two times: 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Family Life room 318 on the USU campus. Bring your lunch. The same program is repeated in the evening: 7-8:30 p.m. at the Family Life Center, 493 North 700 East, Logan (at bottom of Old Main Hill). The longer evening time slot allows for more discussion. Programs are free and registration is not required. Bring a friend! For further information: (435) 797-1569 ; lown@cc.usu.edu

Bring a female friend or colleague with you who is attending FPW for the first time and you will receive a thank you gift. Please speak up at the meeting and let us know.

Upcoming:

July 11: The five timeless principles of investing. Jeff Salisbury, fee-only investment advisor

August 8: Choosing and working with a financial advisor, Allen Marler, CFP

Did you miss the May program on Mutual Funds for your Individual Retirement Account? USU students from the Advanced Family Finance class presented the results of their intensive search for the best funds. They tell you exactly which funds to invest in and why. Check out their PowerPoint presentation and handout at: http://www.usu.edu/fpw/schedule/powerpoints.htm.

Check out the PowerPoint presentations from other FPW programs as well.

Financial Maintenance

Don't forget to check your credit report on a regular basis. This is the best way to catch ID theft early. Under federal law you are entitled to one free report every 12 months from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, & TransUnion. Stagger your requests so that you order one report every 3 months. https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

News & Resources

Introducing "The 10% Solution" from the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE).

"those who save10 percent of every dollar will enjoy a basic level of financial stability and security. The 10% Solution is prescriptive. Consumers want to be given tangible actions they can take to make their lives better. The 10% Solution is attainable in the short run. It reduces the likelihood of being overwhelmed by such advice as saving 18 times income (once recent media report suggested) for retirement. Last, and most importantly, the 10% Solution is amazingly simple: Just omit the last digit of an income amount to arrive at how much should be saved!"

Just when you think the credit card companies couldn't get any more greedy... An FPW participant wrote to say that her card company started charging $9.95 to make a payment by phone or by internet! Time to dump that card. Keep your eyes open for other examples of credit card gouging.

"Seven Cures for a Lean Purse" from The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. Taken together, Clason's cures amount to the seven habits of financially astute people. With comments from JL and CFP Board writer James Geary.

Start thy purse to fattening. (Save or invest at least a tenth of your earnings for yourself.)

"All of us want our children to have a healthy relationship with money. We want them to learn how to handle their allowances wisely, how to balance their checkbooks, and how not to abuse credit cards. But a healthy relationship with money goes far beyond simply being a good money manager. Our kids need to grow up to be compassionate and caring and that takes teaching them that there are more things they can do with their time, effort, and money than just spending it on themselves." Read the rest at:http://www.fpanet.org/journal/articles/2007_Issues/jfp0407- art5.cfm

Planning Ahead: Utah Retirement Systems Pre-Retirement Seminar comes to Logan on Thursday September 20, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. This seminar is designed for URS participants within 5 years of retirement. Free for members and spouses. Seminars will fill quickly so register now: 800-753-7750 .

The USU Family Life Center, 797-7224, 493 N 700 East (bottom of Old Main Hill), provides individual financial counseling. This is the best source for basic money management and getting out of debt. They offer the PowerPay computer debt analysis. Counseling sessions cost $5 for first session with sliding scale charges based on family income and family size for subsequent counseling sessions.

Thanks to the Certified Financial Planner Board Grant for financial support of FPW.

Financial Planning for Women does not sell, rent, loan, lease or otherwise provide any personal information collected at our site to any third parties.

For more information or for questions or comments reguarding this website contact: Jean Lown 435-797-1569, jean.lown@usu.edu.